South Africa’s National Poet Laureate comes to Normal, IL

A Revolution We Can Live For: South Africa’s National Poet Laureate Comes to Normal, Illinois

Two In-Person Events with Mongane Wally Serote

Monday, October 19, 2026:

Informal Conversation + Q&A

1–3pm CT

Publications Unit, Williams Hall Annex

Illinois State University, Normal IL

Tuesday, October 20, 2026:

Poetry Reading + Q&A + Book Signing

5:30–7:30pm CT

University Galleries of ISU

11 Uptown Circle #103, Normal, IL

Please join us in welcoming South Africa’s National Poet Laureate Mongane Wally Serote to Normal, Illinois, for two in-person events. Serote will read from his work and discuss the Soweto Uprising of 1976. Both events are free and open to the public.

Artist Bio:

The award-winning author of numerous books of poetry and fiction, Mongane Wally Serote is a celebrated South African anti-apartheid activist and writer. He emerged as a core voice of the Black Consciousness Movement during the 1970s before spending years in exile as a military operative for the African National Congress. His honors include the Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, the Ingrid Jonker Poetry Prize, and the Chilean government’s Pablo Neruda Award. He is currently the National Poet Laureate of South Africa.